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First Explosions at Polling Places Reported

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sat Jan 29, 2005 at 09:32:18 PM EST
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Via television, Reuters has reported explosions around polling places. A suicide car bomber blew up a car at a security checkpoint. One policeman was killed and two soldiers were wounded. One reporter says the frequency of explosions has increased in the past five to ten minutes. The reporter counted seven to eight explosions in the past 45 minutes. He can't tell if they are mortar shells or car bombs.

In a nutshell, the media, while reporting "loud explosions," is downplaying the significance at this point, saying it was expected.

Update: The cable news channels are taking different approaches. Fox has Geraldo who is absolutely gleeful with the success of the elections. MSNBC is doing news reporting with experts. For the first hour, CNN showed taped videos of past death and destruction. There's been a shortage of live shots so far at polling places. Geraldo said people were turning out in droves, and the reason you didn't see them when they showed the polling places was because they were all inside voting. "An amazing, wonderful, inspiring turnout. The terrorists are going to lose." He did, at least, caution that he was only speaking from his location between Baghdad and Fallujah, not for the whole country.

Geraldo did a live phone interview with Ahmed Chalabi who also is very happy. He said he was going out "right now" to vote. Was that a smart thing to announce on television?

The Fox reporter in Mosul also says the trickle has picked up and now there is a steady flow of voters. I see about ten people in the live shot of the polling precinct. There were two mortar attacks in the last few minutes, so there is still anxiety.

The polls have now been open for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Just turned back to CNN and they are still showing video of bodies and killings. Where are their reporters?

Update: MSNBC leads in quality of coverage. It's the only network that is spending as much time on what happens after the election as it is on the voting. And they are not just being cheerleaders, they have guests on who explain things like the legitimacy problem, how much Bush has riding on the election and how the conflict in Iraq is going to go on for a few more years, no matter what.

Update: Light Seeking Light blogs similar impressions of the cable coverage, particularly Geraldo's enthusiasm. TVNewser says lots of bloggers are talking about Geraldo.

< Voting Opens in Iraq | R.I.P., Jim Capaldi, Traffic Drummer >

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    First Explosions at Polling Places Reported | 2 comments (2 topical)
    Re: First Explosions at Polling Places Reported (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jan 30, 2005 at 12:28:14 AM EST
    Geraldo did a live phone interview with Ahmed Chalabi who also is veyr happy. He said he was going out "right now" to vote. Was that a smart thing to announce on television? Are you kidding? Why would you believe anything that lying F**k has to say?

    Re: First Explosions at Polling Places Reported (none / 0) (#2)
    by cp on Sun Jan 30, 2005 at 02:46:41 PM EST
    it would probably help credibility if they got a real reporter in there, as opposed to geraldo "watch me open this empty safe" rivera. that was an apt analogy, an empty al capone safe, and an empty geraldo head. i hope it goes well, and the iraqi people truly feel they are taking control of their own destiny. that said, the insurgency couldn't continue without at least the tacit support of part of the population. makes me wonder just how happy the average iraqi is.

    First Explosions at Polling Places Reported | 2 comments (2 topical)